Source: Moving the Needle
RAVSAK, the Jewish Community Day School Network and PARDES: Day Schools of Reform Judaism, are convening a joint day school leadership conference entitled: “Moving the Needle: Galvanizing Change in Day School” at the Westin LAX, January 19-21, 2014. Inspirational keynotes, workshops and networking opportunities for educators, administrators, board members and stakeholders of network member schools will engage participants around design thinking, school change, board development, educational leadership, innovative technologies, contemporary ideas of Jewish pluralism, Israel curricula, modes of prayer education, special needs inclusion, early childhood education and more.
A Day School Board Leadership Institute for current and aspiring day school board members and allies is an opportunity for network leaders to extend the learning they have come to expect at this conference to a wider array of board member partners. Board Leadership Institute workshops and speakers will focus on strategies for effective board governance necessary to sustain academically excellent day schools that also fulfill their core Jewish missions. This will be an intensive two-day conference track on Sunday and Monday, January 19-20, within the overall conference program.
An Opening Plenary addressing the complex educational needs of the 143 Jewish day schools in the combined RAVSAK/PARDES networks begins at 1 pm Sunday January 19 for all participants. Conference highlights include an opening keynote by Rabbi Daniel Lehmann, President of Hebrew College on "Beyond Continuity, Identity and Literacy: Making a More Compelling Case for Jewish Day Schools to 21st Century American Jews" and additional keynote addresses from noted author and psychologist Dr. Rob Evans on the elements of successful school change and Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, renowned cognitive neuroscientist, on the educational impact of brain research.
Participants will register for “Deep Dives” day-long intensives to delve deeply into topics, learn with peers and devise strategies to implement back home in their Jewish day school. ”Deep Dive” intensives include:
- New Paradigms for Israel Education
- Special Needs and the Diverse Classroom
- Design Thinking and Adaptive Leadership
- Tefillah: New Paradigms
- Effective Technology, Effective Education
A special Teacher Professional Development Day will be held for teachers from all Jewish day schools across the broader Los Angeles community on Tuesday, January 21, 2014.
This unique opportunity, held in conjunction with the 2014 RAVSAK/PARDES Conference, is specially designed for classroom teachers and specialists in both Judaic and general studies to come together for a day of relevant learning, meaningful discussion and professional networking. A series of interactive workshops presented by leaders and colleagues in the field will address twenty-first century realities that are particularly relevant to the classroom.
See the Moving the Needle Conference website for details and registration.